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Ronald Reagan/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby A boy, Tim, sprays his eighties-styled bleached blonde hair with hairspray. A robot, Moby, is sitting in the living room reading "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov. Eighties pop music begins to play as Tim comes down the stairs and enters the room. He is dressed in eighties fashion. TIM: Where's the beef, Dexter? MOBY: Beep! Beep! Beep! Moby holds his hand over his mouth and laughs. TIM: I'm heading to the eighties dance at school, and it's gonna be wicked gnarly. MOBY: Beep! Moby continues laughing with his hand over his mouth. He hands Tim an envelope. TIM: Oh, all right. I guess we can answer a question first. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, I am going to the Ronald Reagan Library next month. Can you tell me about Ronald Reagan? Thanks, Jonathan. TIM: Hey, Jonathan. We'll be glad to help you out. Ronald Reagan was the fortieth president of the United States. He served from nineteen eighty-one to nineteen eighty-nine. An image shows Ronald Reagan. TIM: Reagan's era was a remarkable time, and not just because the eighties were awesome. He helped end the Cold War, a forty-year standoff between Western democracies like the United States and Communist nations like the Soviet Union. An animation shows Uncle Sam arm-wrestling with a bear wearing a Russian hat with the symbol of the Soviet Union on it. The bear represents the Soviet Union. TIM: And at home, he ushered in a new era of conservatism in American politics. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, conservatives believe in smaller government. MOBY: Beep. Moby holds a thumb and forefinger together, indicating smallness. TIM: Not exactly like that. Typically, they call for lower taxes and less government spending. Conservatives say that this increases people's personal freedom and grows the economy. An animation shows a shrinking bag of money and a shrinking U.S. Capitol Building, as a taxpayer looks on. The taxpayer becomes larger and smiles as money appears in his hands. TIM: Today, Reagan is practically synonymous with these ideas. So it's surprising that he once held almost the exact opposite views. MOBY: Beep. TIM: He was born in nineteen eleven, to a struggling family in Illinois. A map of the United States shows the location of the state of Illinois. TIM: At the height of the Great Depression, his father and brother got jobs through the New Deal programs of Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt. Images show men laying brick, carrying wood, and drilling with a jackhammer. TIM: Reagan admired Roosevelt for his unfailing optimism and the friendly way he spoke to ordinary Americans over the radio. An animation shows a Depression-era family sitting next to a blazing fireplace listening to a radio. TIM: As president, Reagan became known as the Great Communicator for his ability to reach Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds. An animation shows Reagan in a crowd, shaking hands and smiling. Supporters cheer and take his picture. A campaign sign reads: Reagan, Bush. TIM: His early training as an actor probably helped out. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yep. As a young man, he acted in more than fifty movies. Images show black-and-white pictures of three of Reagan's films. TIM: While in Hollywood, he married an actress named Nancy Davis, whom he spent the rest of his life with. An image shows Nancy Davis. TIM: Many people credit her with changing Reagan's political views. He began voting Republican and in the early nineteen sixties started dabbling in politics himself. A nineteen sixty-four speech for a Republican presidential candidate made him a political star. An animation shows a family watching Reagan give a speech on a black-and-white television. TIM: When he ran for governor of California two years later, he won by nearly a million votes. An image shows a Ronald Reagan for Governor button, with a picture of Reagan's face. TIM: It was Reagan's first chance to put his conservative views into practice. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, as governor, he cut funding for many government programs. MOBY: Beep. Moby looks concerned. TIM: But he was willing to compromise with Democrats on issues like taxes and the environment. That flexibility, as well as his sunny personality, did a lot to change conservativism's image. In nineteen eighty, Reaganeasily won the Republican presidential nomination. An animation shows Reagan smiling and waving in front of an American flag as he wins the nomination. A crowd cheers its support. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's true. It was a tough time. The economy had been sluggish for years, and there was trouble overseas. The Soviet Union, America's main adversary in the Cold War, had invaded Afghanistan. An animated map shows the Soviet Union, with Afghanistan bordering it to the south. TIM: In nearby Iran, the American embassy was taken over and its staff held hostage for more than a year. The map shows the location of Iran, which borders Afghanistan to the west and the Soviet Union to the south. Figures represent Americans held hostage in Iran. TIM: In spite of all these problems, Reagan projected optimism and strength, promising that the country's best days were still to come. An image shows a campaign poster with pictures of Reagan, the White House, and a U.S. flag. Text on the poster reads: Reagan for President, and Let's make America great again. TIM: He was elected in a landslide, with many Democrats crossing party lines to vote for him. An animation shows Ronald and Nancy Reagan riding in a victory parade. TIM: True to form, he immediately cut income taxes. He also cut business regulations, particularly for the oil and gas industries. An animation shows Reagan cutting a large piece of paper that reads: Taxes. A second animation shows an oil rig drilling in a national park. TIM: Meanwhile, he ramped up military spending. An animation shows an American flag in the shape of the United States. Many nuclear missiles appear on the flag. TIM: The Cold War was still going strong, and he wanted to show the Soviets he meant business. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. sent weapons, money, and advisers to anti- Communist movements around the world. An animation shows two hands opening a cardboard box. There are weapons inside. TIM: He put public pressure on the Soviets, even calling them an "Evil Empire." But he softened his tone in his second term, when a young reformer named Mikhail Gorbachev became the new Soviet leader. An animation shows Reagan and Gorbachev talking in a friendly way. TIM: Reagan and Gorbachev formed a warm friendship, signing treaties that greatly reduced the threat of nuclear war. An animation shows nuclear missiles disappearing from the U.S.-shaped American flag. Only four remain on the map. MOBY: Beep. Moby makes a peace sign with two of his fingers. TIM: Just a few years after Reagan left office, the Soviet Union collapsed, officially ending the Cold War. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Of course, not all of his foreign policy was so successful. During his second term, members of his administration secretly sold arms to Iran. They sent the profits of the sale to anti-Communist soldiers in Central America. An animation shows images of the U.S., Iran, and Nicaragua. Graphics dramatize the exchanges that Tim describes. TIM: This broke a number of laws and caused a huge scandal. MOBY: Beep. An animation shows several magazine covers and newspaper headlines, all addressing the scandal Tim describes. TIM: Actually, Reagan was still very popular when he left office in nineteen eighty-nine. An animation shows Ronald and Nancy Reagan getting on a helicopter and waving goodbye. TIM: The economy boomed during his presidency, and unemployment shrank. An animated line graph illustrates a growing U.S. economy during the early part of the nineteen eighties. TIM: But not everyone was thrilled. Critics noted that the rich benefitted much more than the poor. An animation shows a nice house next to a small, shabby one. The nice house becomes taller and wider, and the shabby one begins to fall apart. TIM: Reagan also added more than a trillion dollars to the national debt, which cut against his conservative principles. Still, most Americans felt more confident in the future than they had in decades. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, five years after he left politics, Reagan made a sad announcement. He was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. MOBY: Beep. TIM: He retired from public life and died ten years later, at age ninety-three. An image of Reagan fades into darkness. TIM: Since then, Reagan's become a hero to conservatives. An animation shows a Reagan supporter waving a small American flag and wearing a shirt that reads: Viva la Reagan Revolucion. TIM: Airports, highways, and buildings have been named after him, and he's always ranked high among Americans' favorite presidents. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, I guess you could say that during the eighties, he was bigger than Molly Ringwald, the Safety Dance, and the Rubik's cube put together. MOBY: Beep. Moby shrugs, looking confused. TIM: Look it up, dude. I got a dance to go to, so I am Audi Five Thousand. Eighties music plays. Tim dances out of the room. Moby smacks himself in the forehead.Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts